This section provides background information related to the present disclosure which is not necessarily prior art.
Existing tape feed systems for self-piercing rivet machines typically have a ratcheting wheel between the self-piercing rivet fastener supply reel and the receiver. This ratcheting wheel typically engages holes along the tape to push the tape into the receiver. The exhausted tape leaving the receiver is typically left as a free end and allowed to fall on the floor. Cleaning up this exhausted tape can cost a surprisingly large amount of money for a manufacturer to clean up; hundreds of thousands of dollars, if not millions of dollars annually. The present disclosure relates to a tape feed apparatus and method that eliminates such clean-up costs and other disadvantages of such typical self-piercing rivet fastener tape feed systems.